Questions

Let’s talk facts: Our Australian-made trikes are built and stress tested to +6 G’s and – 3 G’s. This is the same strength testing as airplanes here in the USA. But the aircraft are only as safe as the people flying them. Tom has been flying trikes since 2003 and traditional hang-gliders since 1978 and has over 6000 hours of flight time and has taken over 25,000 people on their first flight lesson, all with a perfect safety record.

You may find it interesting to know that Tom Sanders (Paradise Air’s Owner) has been coordinating skydiving, hang gliding and BASE jumping stunts for over 30 years with a perfect safety record. You can see a sample of some of Tom’s projects here. We believe that safety is no accident, and, in fact, it’s our #1 priority.

We recommend you wear clothing that is comfortable for the day (girls, you’ll be better off in shorts or pants than sundresses). Before we take off, we’ll give you a flight suit to wear which will keep you warm and comfortable during your flight. If you get cold easily, you may want a long sleeve shirt or light sweater under the flight suit. In addition we’ll give you a headset and helmet with visor.

Glasses or contact lenses are fine. If you want to wear sunglasses during your flight, we recommend NON-polarized lenses to reduce interference with the plastic visor. Also, be sure to wear secure shoes. Sandals are fine as long as they have a back strap and are secure on your feet. Sorry, no slippahs (thong-type shoes) or slip-on shoes.

This isn’t like an outdoor concert “Rain or Shine”. We don’t want to fly in crap weather either. The weather in Hawaii changes quickly and is very different in different parts of the island. Because we are located on the North Shore’s west end, we typically have drier weather than Waikiki and the windward side of the island.

You are always welcome to call us if you have questions about the weather, but don’t let rain at your point of departure get you down. It’s likely totally different at the airfield. If the weather looks unflyable, our pilots will make every effort to contact you before you head out.

For that reason, it’s extremely important that you have your cell phone CHARGED, ON, and WITH YOU for the 18 hours before your scheduled flight time.

We also recommend giving us a backup phone number for somebody in your party in case we are unable to reach you directly. In the unlikely event that we do have to cancel, we’ll do our very best to work with your schedule to come back out.

Since it’s essentially a hang glider with a big engine, if the engine quits… well… it’s still a hang glider. It has a wing, so it glides, and your instructor lands it. Losing power isn’t the emergency people imagine.

Since we fly in the smoothest part of each day, motion sickness is rare. If you are especially prone to motion sickness and are used to taking medicine such as Dramamine, then feel free to do so. If you’re not used to taking medications for motion sickness, it’s better to not start experimenting now. Try to avoid orange juice, coffee, or other acidic foods/drinks before your flight.

Eat a light meal or snack before your flight. Let your pilot know if you are prone to motion sickness. We have motion sickness bands for your wrist and ginger on hand (remember your mom giving you ginger ale when you were a kid and had an upset stomach?)

No, currently we are flying one aircraft and you will be flying one at a time with Tom. This will insure you all get the very best experience and one of the most experienced trike pilots in the world. We have a very comfortable hangar, a great hiking trail at our airport and a beautiful beach next to the runway. You will be able to shoot photos and video of each other preparing for the flight, taking off and landing. After your flight you will also be able to view your photos and video while others in your group fly.

No, All Light Sport Aircraft are restricted to a maximum of two people and one will be Tom, your pilot.

With no flight training, this is a R E A L L Y B A A A A A A D idea (not to mention illegal). Although cleverly disguised, these are FAA registered Light Sport Aircraft, not little toys. They have a top speed of 95 mph and take mad skills to fly safely on a daily basis. Sorry, you’re stuck with us! But we don’t bite, aren’t bad looking, and it’s pretty likely we’ll even be a little helpful up there 🙂

We do not have any age restrictions to take a flight…. we’ve taken kids from 9 years old up to kids 93 years old so far! We do recommend a minimum weight of 80 lbs. For children lighter than 80 lbs, the 70 mph forward speed may be a little much. We can take folks who weigh up to 235 lbs (weight proportionate to height) and the tallest person we’ve comfortably taken up is 6’6″ tall. Depending on your build, we may decline customers who are at the extremes of our seat width or seatbelt length. While our seats are physically smaller than a coach seat on Southwest Airlines, they do tend to feel MUCH more roomy 🙂

We’ll talk your ear off if you let us! The aircraft, commonly called a trike, is weight shift controlled, meaning that we control our flight path through the sky by shifting the weight of the pod (the part we’re sitting in). We’ve had 9 year olds and 90 year olds take the controls so don’t think it’s scary or difficult. Most folks find it easy and even relaxing to fly trikes!

These little birds clock in at $75,000 apiece. They look like whimsical little ultralights, but they actually are “real aircraft”. That means we can fly them into Honolulu Airport (and we do sometimes because it’s fun to mess with the controllers) and we can fly them inter-island (we do that too because it’s fun!). Most people totally underestimate just how capable these little aircraft really are. Our AirBorne trikes are each powered by a 4-stroke, 4-cylinder, 912 cc, 80 hp Rotax aircraft engine. This is the most popular engine being put in Light Sport Aircraft worldwide and its reliability is unmatched. We cruise at about 70 mph (more on the difference between a ride and a flight lesson below).

No, every flight we do is a lesson…. but that’s a GOOD thing! During your flight we’ll show you how the aircraft flies and moves around the sky and if you want to take the controls, you CAN! (How many other flying activities let you do that?) But there’s no pressure here…. if you do not feel comfortable taking the controls, you don’t have to. Every person is different, and every person learns differently. Our goal isn’t to “make you fly”; our goal is for you to have a great time and to come down grinning ear-to-ear saying “I can’t wait to do that AGAIN!”

YES! For a $75,000 CASH ONLY security deposit, you can bring your own camera! (Okay, here’s the real answer…)

No cameras, cell phones, or anything loose in your hands are allowed on board. The reason is that we will be cruising around at 70 mph in an open cockpit with the engine and propeller directly behind us. If anything were to come loose, it would go right thru the prop. So for safety reasons, we are very strict on this rule.

We completely understand… most people want photos and/or video. For that reason, we have mounted both video and still cameras to the wing. They are controlled by the pilot and are able to capture your flight in its entirety. Not only are they a great way to review and learn from your flight lesson, they make for great bragging rights back home.

Photos and video are $138, added to any flight. You’ll have the opportunity to view your flight’s photos and video back in the hangar before you take them home.

Our custom photo and video systems are the brainchild of Tom Sanders, the owner of Paradise Air. More can be found out about Tom’s amazing work by clicking here .)

We still use higher quality cameras and lenses for our still images but we agree GoPros are excellent video cameras. We have GoPro10’s on the wing to capture the flight in stunning HD quality, including crystal clear audio. We can add your GoPro or similar camera that accepts the GoPro mounts. We add this to the control bar so the pilot can move it around to get many awesome shots during the flight. The only catch is we charge $10. to add your GoPro to our system and you are then committed to purchasing our photos and video package. With these two cameras you can edit together a truly professional video of your flight experience. We give you the original HD card from our GoPro for truly HD quality.

RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED!

If you just show up, we’ll either be out flying or in between flights. Either way, we’re pretty busy giving our world-renowned, unmatched super-amazing customer service to those who are already scheduled to fly with us. Please book a flight online or call us at 808-497-6033 to make your reservation. If you call, we’ll take down the names and weights of the flyers, a contact phone number, an email address so we can send you a confirmation email, and a credit card number so we can be sure you remember to set your alarm clock the night before. We do not charge your credit card ahead of time, but a few days before your flight we will place a hold on your card for the flights. You can change your payment method to cash or a different credit card on the day of your flight.

Sometimes folks like to drop by to check out the aircraft, meet us, or just talk story. It’s all good…. we’re happy to meet with you and show you the aircraft before your flight with us when we’re not with other customers. If you’d like to come out and say aloha to us, please consider calling ahead and letting us know. We’ll let you know what time we’ll be done flying on the day you want to come out so you can see the aircraft (before we cover them up for the day) and also not intrude on our last customer’s departure. With no other customers around it’s great…. then we can give YOU 100% of our attention 🙂

Yes! Book your flight online — pick a date, a time and your flight, place your deposit, and you’re confirmed. It takes a couple of minutes.

If you’d rather trade a few cold, impersonal keystrokes for soulful, meaningful conversation with a real live human being, call us at 808-497-6033. The phone is answered 4am to 7pm HST, every day.

If you’re contacting us from another country, time zone, or universe and calling is difficult, booking online works around the clock.

We take Cash (of course…. :-), travelers’ cheques, and credit cards (Visa, MasterCard,Discover and AMEX)

We do! We offer a (full time) student discount, kama’aina, military, and senior discount. Students 18yrs or younger automatically get the discount. College students have to show current full time enrollment by bringing in a copy of your current or upcoming full time class schedule (or you can pull it up on your phone). Active duty military, retired military and military dependents just need to show your military ID. Locals, bring your Hawaii driver’s license or state ID card. And seniors over 65, just ask us. We stopped suggesting senior discounts long ago after pissing off some folks in their 50’s.

You may change or cancel your reservation with absolutely no charge to you if you let us know 72 hours or more before your scheduled flight(s). If you cancel your flight(s) within the 72 hour window, we will charge your credit card for the full amount of the flight(s) booked if we are unable to fill your timeslots. If we can find someone to take your slots on short notice, we will not charge you.

Your pilot, Tom Sanders, is an FAA certified Sport Pilot Flight Instructor and an FAA certified Light Sport Repairman for Weight Shift Control aircraft — he performs all of the aircraft maintenance himself, keeping the aircraft in tip-top shape. He has over 6000 hours flying trikes, all at Dillingham Airfield, and is also an active skydiver, BASE jumper and hang glider pilot with over 8,000 skydives. You could say he spends A LOT of time in the air!

While we never expect tips, they are certainly welcome and very much appreciated. If you think we did an excellent job and exceeded your expectations, the best tip you can give us is by telling your family and friends about us. We also really appreciate 5 star reviews on Yelp! and Trip Advisor. If you found out about us in the “O’ahu Revealed” guidebook, tell the author about your experience. If there’s something you think we could do better, please let us know. We are always striving to improve Paradise Air and welcome your input.

No. There are three options to get to us up here on the north shore. By far, the best option is rent a car. You should be able to rent a car for one day for about $40 in Hawaii. A second option is to hire a car and driver. These guys usually charge about $60/hour and you should plan for the drive out, flight, and drive back to be a minimum of 4 hours. Obviously, that adds up quickly. The worst option is to take a cab, but that runs about $135 each way.

Yes there is a bus system and no it will not take you to us. The Bus only costs $2.50 but takes over 2 hours to get up here and unfortunately stops 5 miles short of our airfield. By far, most of our customers rent a car and drive to our location.

We are located at the west end, mauka side (mountain side) of Dillingham Airfield (right next to the tower) on O’ahu’s North Shore. For directions, click here. For GPS, Google, or Yahoo! Maps, Dillingham Airfields address is 68-760 Farrington Hwy Waialua, HI 96791 (but that address will only bring you to the EAST GATE. The WEST GATE is another 1.7 miles down the road). Or You can also input airport code PHDH. Lat/Long is Lat 21.579196 and Long -158.206971.

We fly 7 days a week, and the phone is answered 4am to 7pm HST every day. If you get our voicemail, it probably means we are in the air or on the other line — leave us a message and we will call you right back. When you book, we’ll find the flight time that fits your plans.

One little side note: we recommend you plan to fly with us early in your trip if you can. Booking on one of your first days here gives you more options for rescheduling if, on the off-chance, Mother Nature is grumpy on the day you are scheduled to fly with us — we’ll have plenty of days left to get you back in the air before you head home.

It’s recommended you wait 12-24 hours after SCUBA Diving before you go flying. If you have any questions about how long you should wait, it’s best to ask your SCUBA Instructor or just wait the maximum time of 24 hours.

Trikes fall into the category of Light Sport Aircraft. To fly a Light Sport Aircraft, you need a Sport Pilot Certificate issued by the FAA. You can find out more about a Sport Pilot Certificate and Light Sport Aircraft by clicking here. It realistically takes about 25-35 hours of flight training to qualify for your Sport Pilot Certificate. You can read more about the requirements to become a Sport Pilot in 14 CFR Part 61 Subpart J.

How long it takes depends on how often you fly and if Mother Nature is on board with your flight training plan. Tom learned in about a month, flying almost every day through the month of September in 2003.

You need to be proficient in flying weight shift controlled aircraft. There is no minimum time requirement but it’s common to take about 5-10 hours of transition training. You can read more about adding a different category or class of light sport aircraft in 14CFR Part 61.321.

From anywhere on the island, the drive is very pretty! Enjoy!!

Click for directions

It’s a very complex algorithm that really only a select few comprehend, so the easiest way to know how much time you’ll spend with us from start to finish is to simply ask, “What time will we be done?” I promise you, we’ll have a fairly accurate answer for you once you’re booked. But if you’re a dork and want to know for yourself precisely how we come to that exact date and time, keep reading…..

X = Length of flight

Y = Total Time we’ll have you and

Z = Number of flyers in your group

IF Z is 1 or 2, THEN Y = 30 mins + X + 30 mins (see note)

IF Z is 3 or 4, THEN Y = 30 mins + (X * 2) + 45 mins (see note)

IF Z is 5 or 6, THEN Y = 30 mins + (X * 3) + 60 mins (see note)

IF Z is 7 or 8 (I can’t believe you’re still reading this!), THEN Y = 30 mins + (X * 4) + 75 mins (see note)

(note: all times are approximate and possibly even inaccurate and do not take into account Mother Nature’s moodiness, random strangers stopping by, random friends stopping by, random animals stopping by, excessive picture taking, overly-chatty, super-inquisitive family members, or coffee pot emergencies).

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